Reporting Solutions For Small, Medium and Large Businesses

You don't have to be a Fortune 500 company to benefit from a quality reporting solution. Enterprise reporting isn't just for enterprises. It's for any business - small, medium or large - with data to be analyzed and interpreted. But even just knowing what reporting tools are out there that might meet your company's needs is a complicated issue. So here's a very brief look at three major reporting software companies to help you gain insight into your various options.

You've probably heard of SAP's Crystal Reports, and for good reason. SAP has the largest market share in the business intelligence and analytics software arena. The product suite matches the market share; it's extensive, requires a relatively ample learning curve, and it performs a large number of tasks. If your organization already has developers trained in Crystal - the larger you are, the more likely that will be - and you have the budget to match, this might be the right reporting solution for you.

Open source software is another area worth investigating. One of the major players here is Actuate, which founded and co-leads the Eclipse BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools) open source project. Evaluating Actuate reporting solutions is a must for any business that believes source code should be published. (Keep in mind that open source doesn't mean free, though. Remember there can be costs such as add-ons, training and customer support.)

A third option is going with a company that uses a design tool based on Microsoft Office. Windward Reports falls into this category with AutoTag, an add-in for Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. One of the advantages to a program like AutoTag is that many business users already know how to lay out reports and documents in MS Office. Windward's customers range from boutique companies to global enterprises, making this another program worth a look no matter the size of your organization.